Tag Archives: reallocating

Six months on since we reallocated from London to Stoke-on-Trent. What a big decision it was. No one can argue- living outside London is totally different. But you know what, there is not yet a day I would regret this change. What is it in London (or any other big city), that you wouldn’t be able to get here?

London vs Countryside

London is famous for its trendy places, it definitely is! I used to love going out! Posh and unusual places such like Sketch or simple but so heartwarming like Brazilian place Guanabara (along with countless Caipirinha cocktails) back in London!

I would probably miss it if I was still single. Or at least if I didn’t have my 3 little monsters, that keep me busy 7 days a week. But for now, it doesn’t matter if I am in a fancy city or in a quiet countryside – not much chance for me to go out anyway, ha ha. And hey, London is not a thousand miles away. We will certainly visit those special places time to time.

Talking about restaurants, we had already found our few new local favourites! If you know us well, you must have noticed, that Edward and I are fans of a good Chinese buffet. Back in London, we used to love Cosmo, Global or Izumi (Brentwood) buffets. But in Stoke-on-Trent there is now a good buffet too – it’s Bon Pan Asian in Hanley. They do Chinese, Thai, Indian, English food as well as Sushi! Goodness me, I am getting hungry now!

We know one nice Italian place to eat in Stoke (I can’t recall its name, sorry). We went there for my cousin’s birthday and we weren’t disappointed! I had a seafood pizza, ahhh, it was yummy!!! Continue reading London VS Countryside→

Goodness me, moving is expensive! It cost us even more this time than ever before, as the current house that we rent was empty (just as our pockets now)- no furniture, no fridge, no washing machine. Here only was kitchen cupboards, and luckily two wardrobes- in our bedroom and in Luka’s room. Therefore we had to buy most of the things ourselves.

Anyway, as much as it was painful to our wallets, it was also very exciting, I have to admit. We love creating our home and buying all the lovely things, that we believe will add some cosiness to our surroundings. So we just closed our eyes and…. SPENT…

The first priority for us as soon as we moved in it was to get the fridge and the washing machine. I cannot imagine our life without those, but probably no one can. We have decided to buy them second hand ones, as we will unlikely be taking them to another property, once we decide to move out (hopefully not any time soon). Looked up on Gumtree and VOILA (victory in French apparently)! Our fridge and the washing machine are both Hotpointbrand and actually in a really good working order.

I really do like the washing machine! We paid £100 (second hands) for it and it’s lovely! It has 8 kilograms load, which is very useful having a big family like ours. It’s pretty quiet, many options, looks fancy (lights and buttons 😀 ) and really does a great job! Continue reading Furniture that we Bought for our New Home→

I am so relieved we finally moved! Process itself was extremely difficult, long and nerve-racking. I don’t want to experience it ever again. Or at least not any time soon!

Thursday and Friday back in Romford were super busy! We had to finish off all the packing, plus clean the flat neatly . I literally finished moping the floor the minute agency came to inspect the property. I was shattered!

Edward was even more tired, as he had to carry all the stuff downstairs. But thankfully he was not alone. His brother Jim was helping us with moving. I honestly don’t know how we would have coped without him! Boys started transferring boxes downstairs before 7am. At around 8.30am van has arrived and they loaded all on the van. Continue reading Reallocation: Bye London, Hello Stoke-on-Trent→

I am sorry I haven’t been around for a while. We had a stressful week- the house that we wanted to rent in Stoke-on-Trent was given to someone else. Our project ‘reallocating’ has become pretty stressful all of a sudden. 🙁

We had a feeling we wont be getting the first house we wanted anyway. From the very beginning things were not going right. We were extremely unlucky with the agency or the actual agent that we were dealing with. Cameron from Goodchilds lettings agency in Stoke-on-Trent seemed completely uninterested to assist us and the whole process was very disorganised, long and disappointing.

Two weeks ago, when we decided to apply for the first house, we had to go to Goodchilds lettings agency to pay £250 to secure the house (we had it refunded later on). After paying, we left the agency with a bitter feeling- agent Cameron wasn’t very friendly towards us. He was not rude, but we had a strong feeling, he didn’t like us at all. We just kept quiet, as we really wanted that house.. More about it in my previous blog post HERE.

Few days after just confirmed the feeling. Edward and I tried our best to communicate with the agency, to pass references on as soon as possible, etc. However Cameron didn’t rush with anything. Was so frustrating, as he did not even bother replying to our emails. He also lied to us, that he has emailed referencing forms to our current employers and current agency, even though he only did it after we gave him some pressure – nearly two weeks after submitting application.Continue reading Reallocating: House Hunting Round two!→

This was our first trip to Stoke-on-Trent since we decided to reallocate. It’s just about time to start house hunting. Our moving out date in Romford is 25th of September. Less than a month to go!

We were planning to get here on Wednesday in the evening. That day I was going to pick up Luka from the airport and after Edward finishes work we all wanted to get going. Unfortunately on the way home from the airport poor Daniella threw up in the car followed by super high temperature, so we decided to stay home that night..

The morning after, on Thursday, Daniella seemed to feel a little bit better, but still had temperature. We have decided to leave her at Edward’s parents – 3 hours trip would have been too tiring for her.. We couldn’t cancel our trip to Stoke-on_Trent, as Edward was given Thursday and Friday off, that doesn’t happen every day, so it was an opportunity for us to see houses together. It was heartbreaking though to leave our princess being so poorly. At least we all knew she was in good hands. Continue reading Reallocating: Trip to Stoke-on-Trent for House Hunting→